Perry to join Fla. governor on campaign trail

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (far left) and Gov. Rick Perry pose together in a photo Perry shared earlier this year on Twitter. Perry is campaigning for Scott on Monday in Florida.

AUSTIN — No stranger to the campaign trail outside Texas, Gov. Rick Perry is hitting the road Monday to boost his counterpart in Florida, where the gubernatorial contest is coming down to the wire.

Perry is scheduled to join a bus tour in the afternoon for Rick Scott, the governor of the Sunshine State who’s locked in a fight for re-election with former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-Democrat. Perry is set to stump for Scott during two stops with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, one at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Orlando and the other in The Villages, home to Florida’s sprawling retirement community by the same name.

The Crist-Scott match-up frequently ranks as the closest governor’s race in the nation, and a parade of GOP heavyweights have headed to Florida to lend a hand. A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday morning found Crist’s 1-percentage-point lead over Scott well within the margin of error.

Perry and Scott count each other friends, often nodding to their state’s economies in speeches. They reportedly dined together after fundraiser last month in Dallas.

Perry is expected to campaign for Scott again Tuesday before returning to Austin for an Election Night party for Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott, who’s favored to beat Democratic opponent Wendy Davis. The guest list features two other Republicans seen as potential 2016 presidential candidates: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.